These are a few of the stories you will find in this week's printed newspaper:

State aid sought for watermaster investigation

Utility discusses future rate increases

Lassen Community College honors Disability Awareness Month

Supervisors table Herlong property sale

Local resident wins Mini Miss California pageant

Gables may provide housing

Tuesday, Jan. 6 — A proposed project will provide local transitional and long-term housing for individuals with chronic mental illness.

Health and social services is seeking to enter into a partnership with an experienced developer and operator of special needs and low-income housing projects to secure and rehabilitate The Gables on Johnstonville Road.

According to Melody Brawley, director of health and social services, once the facility is renovated, the developer will rent it like an apartment complex.

Several agencies, North Valley Catholic Services and CASA Serenity, of Red Bluff, have expressed interest in renting the house, according to Brawley.

Health and social services staff will be on-site to provide appropriate services to the residents.

“We wouldn’t own it, which I’m 100 percent in favor of, don’t want to be a landlord. But we would be very supportive. We would have staff there during the day, we could place some of our seriously, chronically mentally ill folks in a permanent housing situation where they would get daily support,” Brawley said.

The project will be a great opportunity to bring home people who have been placed out of the county. The individuals will then be able to live near family and people they are familiar with, according to Brawley.

She explained being able to bring people home will make their recovery better and last longer.

When county staff first looked at the property, Brawley said it wasn’t as desirable because they wanted it to be closer to Susanville and the bus line.

“There’s still some shortcomings … but the more we looked at it the more we really liked it. It has a lot of multi-use possibilities,” Brawley said. “We just think it has great potential.

Health and social services is required to provide services to people with mental disabilities in their jurisdictions.

See the Tuesday, Jan. 6 issue of the Lassen County Times for the complete story.